Description
We've all been there. That portrait you shot was perfectly composed and it looks very nice -- except for that ugly greasy shine on the model's skin. How about those candids -- some bad glare from that flash? Perhaps your lighting and focus was perfect, but every blemish, pit and wrinkle was captured in marvelous detail along with the rest of the image!
These were some of the issues with the sample images on this page. However, the two actions contained in this set ("Grease and Shine Removal" and "Skin Smoothing") will go a long way to remedy these nagging problems. Take a moment (if you haven't already) to roll your mouse over the images on this page to see the before/after. The top sample image was shot by me for a friend's wedding. The bottom two are stock images. I have written a
tutorial describing my workflow on the wedding photo so that you may get the most out of these actions.
The "Grease and Shine Removal" action simply and effectively reduces glare on skin. You airbrush over problem areas and the magic happens! Plus, you can adjust the effect to suit when after the action is over.
"Skin Smoothing" produces a gentle blended effect for your skin. I must acknowledge the very good and popular
tutorial by Mizuno as the basis for this action. I thought putting this workflow in action form would be convenient. However, if you want to learn more about the process, check out his tutorial. As with the other action, you airbrush in the smooth skin and get to see the magic occur. This effect is also easily customizable. If the end result looks a little too "porcelain dollish" to you, try simply reducing the opacity of the smooth skin layer.
Instructions
Simply load up the actions and follow a few on-screen instructions. For best results, have a flattened image open, or run the actions with the top layer (not an adjustment layer and no layer masks) selected. Oh, yes... and know how to paint with the brush tool. :-)
Requirements
Photoshop CS or higher.
Download
Magic Skin Action Set (also, don't forget to check out the
Magic Skin tutorial!)
Previews (mouse over for original image):